


all it takes is one bad day

by fifteen_half



Series: on curses, shamans and evil spirits [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Curses, Demonic Possession, Demons, Gen, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-13 18:55:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21002534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifteen_half/pseuds/fifteen_half
Summary: Jeno was a normal, albeit unusually athletic, college sophomore who preferred to spend his time with the university’s Occult Org than the many varsity teams who sought him.The day of this grandfather’s passing, he bumps into a young shaman looking for a cursed object. When the curse activates, Jeno ingests the object in order to save his friends. Now Jeno is cursed, but instead of being exorcised (i.e., executed), the young shaman pulls him into his world, offering him to become a shaman as well.{loosely based on a manga called 'jujutsu kaisen'}





	all it takes is one bad day

Na Jaemin, 2nd year shaman trainee at the Mu Institute, was glad to be outside of that wretched lighthouse filled to the brim with negative energy, but the strong gusts of wind from the coast wasn’t any better. Feeling a bit of dread, Jaemin shivered both from the cold and a premonition as he reported, “It’s not here, Heechul _ssaem_.”

Over the phone, the freezing student could hear his teacher scoff, ‘I’ve never heard of a more ridiculous thing in my entire life! Or well— okay, I may have heard and said more ridiculous things but, how could it not be there? Non-shamans would never be able to go near a special grade cursed object!’

“I’ve looked where you told me, _ssaem_. I looked everywhere. It’s really not here.”

‘Then look harder! Your teacher is really busy here, ya know! I’ve got no time for students asking me about stupid questions!’

Hearing the bass of a club on the phone, his supposed busy teacher most likely drinking at this time of the night, Jaemin gritted his teeth in annoyance as he said, “Fine, seonsaengnim. I’ll keep looking.”

‘Now that’s my student!’ said teacher yelled, already sounding distracted from the sound of giggling girls at the background, ‘No going back to the hotel until you find it, ‘kay? Do your best, my Jaeminie~!’

Looking back at the lighthouse in disdain, definitely not looking forward to the pressure of all that negative energy coalescing into  _ something _ but not quite there yet, Jaemin rolled his eyes in annoyance and hung up on his teacher without another word, politeness be damned. 

(It wasn’t as if his teacher cared about manners. He was fine. The Choi’s would never know.)

Seriously, if Kim Heechul wasn’t the most distinguished shaman of this generation, Jaemin would have decked his teacher ages ago.

Lee Jeno, 2nd year student majoring at Occupational Therapy at Gangwon University, stared quizzically at the object his sunbaes were so amazed by. They were so amazed by it that they could barely touch it.

“Easy now, easy,” Eunjung warned as Jaekwang carefully, carefully pried the small box open, “It could be booby trapped.”

Jaekwang, a tall and mild-mannered 3rd year, nodded nervously.

The three of them were huddled on a small table at the corner of the Otaku Society’s org room (the org Jeno was technically a member of), both curious (Jeno) and scared (his two sunbaes) of the object they had braved the cold for at the old lighthouse a few nights ago. When Jaekwang finally opened the box, Jeno tilted his head to the side in curiosity while both of his sunbaes faces lit up in excitement.

“Oh my god, this is it!” Eunjung trilled, holding back a yell, barely containing her excitement, “I can feel it. This is it!”

Jaekwang solemnly nodded, his eyes getting misty, “I can feel it as well. We’ve finally found something legitimate, Eunjung ah!”

Jeno, on the other hand, simply smiled at his sunbaes, just really glad at seeing how happy they were. They’d been dragging him to all sorts of dank, dark and stinky places to search for objects related to the occult, something that Jeno didn’t even believe in, but it was worth it seeing how it made them so happy.

He’d have to regale this to his grandfather later! The old man was probably going to laugh at him for being so soft-hearted, but his eyes would take on that  _ look _ — the look that Jeno knew meant he was proud of him.

Eunjung reverently picked up the object and held it up against the light, looking at it closer.

“The markings on this… it’s something I’ve never seen before,” she commented, “But it looks like a sealing spell to me.”

Jeno thought it looked like a half eaten sausage wrapped up in used bandages with writings but if she said it was a sealing spell, then she must be right. Jeno knew nothing about such things anyway. He’d only helped his sunbaes out because they’d asked. And even though he’d rather stay at home or at the hospital where his grandfather was confined in, said grandfather would have yelled at him for not helping another person out.

While the two occult fanatics were fawning over said object, Jeno was getting distracted by a member of the Otaku Society building up the new Gundam model. It was one of the new gundam models he was planning to buy and if it didn’t turn out as good as he expected then—

“Go on, Jeno ya,” Eunjung chuckled, noticing how the younger had gotten distracted, “You don’t have to stay with us. We’re honestly a little embarrassed of ourselves. We owe you so much already. Exploring haunted places, the Otaku Society allowing us to use their org room… they were all possible because of you. We’re already taking so much of your time and you aren’t even part of the Occult Org which well,” she laughed, “stopped being an official org. I’m still embarrassed whenever we pass by our old org room! Now it’s just a storage area. Our sunbaes would be so ashamed of us!”

Jaekwang miserably nodded.

“It’s okay, Eunjung noona. I’m sure you’ll be able to get more students to join soon.”

“Right!” she agreed, brightening up, “With this object, we’ll be able to prove that the supernatural does exist! We’ll be official again! Maybe we’ll even get our org room back! And it’ll be all thanks to you, Jeno!”

Jeno chuckled, “You know I’m always glad to—,”

“PLEASE HELP US, LEE JENO NIM!!”

“—help?” blinking at the captain of the Taekwondo varsity, Jeno tilted his head in question, “Y-yes?”

Everyone in the room didn’t even blink. Everyone was used to this by now.

Lee Jeno was, after all, the ace of their university’s Taekwondo team— well, had been, because he’d suddenly quit a few months ago, declared he liked building Gundams more, then subsequently joined the Otaku Society. Because of this, the captain of the team, even the team’s coach, frequented the Otaku Society’s club room a lot, trying to convince Jeno to come back to no avail.

“Im-hwan,” the team’s current ace, “Was injured last practice,” the captain explained, “We forgot there was a practice game today and, as reigning champions, we can’t allow our school to lose face! We have to win, Jeno! We have to ensure our dignity stays intact! We need you, Lee Jeno-nim! Please help us!”

It was such a common occurrence that the rest of the room’s occupants quickly went back to what they were doing. Jeno, on the other hand, looked at the time first and then sighed.

There was still time before visiting hours are over. If he was quick about it, he could make it.

Nodding at the team captain, Jeno stood up and said, “Okay sunbaenim, but I’m gonna finish it quickly! That’s okay, right?”

The captain nodded happily, knowing it meant total defeat for their rival school.

“Yes! Absolutely!”

Dressed in casual clothing to blend in, an amber haired boy walked into the university as if he studied there.

Unfortunately for him, his features were just a little bit too striking, too exquisite, that he was followed by stares anyway.

Na Jaemin walked faster, hoping to find that cursed object before a student called the campus security on him. But even so,

“What is it with this school,” he muttered, frowning, “There’s negative energy everywhere.”

All that negative energy was like a ticking time bomb. Schools usually had an abundance of negative energy, considering how emotional the young are, which is why they were a hotbed of “supernatural” activities caused by low grade cursed entities, but this… this was ridiculous. Was it because of the cursed object? It could be. Jaemin had no experience beyond medium grade cursed objects. And that was with his whole class. This assignment was for a special grade cursed object and he _really_ shouldn’t be here but,

_ You’re a better sensor than I am,  _ his teacher had said,  _ So be a good little puppy and find it for me, ‘kay? And then I’ll deal with it after! Sounds fun, right? Right? _

Jaemin couldn’t exactly refuse Kim Heechul. He was the one who took him out of the Choi compound after all. Jaemin would even call it a rescue if he was being honest. So putting up with the older man’s whims was the least he could do. He knows that Heechul doesn’t particularly care about him, everyone says that the high ranking shaman only did out of a misplaced sense of obligation to his father, but even then Heechul’s indifference was infinitely kinder than the Choi’s.

The sound of distant cheering and shouting caught Jaemin’s attention. When he looked, he was surprised to feel that a mass of negative energy was being formed there. He smiled. It looked like the assignment would be over soon.

Jeno was true to his word and made quick work on the other team’s players. He was down to the other team’s ace when he noticed a new face among the crowd. It didn’t look like he was part of the team. He wasn’t even looking at the match. He was weaving among the crowd, as if he was searching for something.

The captain noticed his distraction, “Is there something wrong? Tired?” he asked, worried.

Jeno shook his head, “Not at all! I can start right away!”

The clock just rung 7pm. He had to finish soon if he wanted to stay longer at the hospital with his grandfather.

Their coach, acting as referee, blew the whistle signaling the start of the match.

Jeno had always been good at everything he did. Studying was no problem. Sports was no problem too. He was popular at school because not only was he good at those, but he was also, according to his coursemates, quite easy on the eyes. He was liked by a lot by the students, even the teachers and staff. He was always surrounded by people and yet, Jeno somehow still felt lonely.

The match ended swiftly, just like the others. After exchanging pleasantries and pointers, Jeno didn’t even bother changing. He took off the borrowed uniform, grabbed his bag and bid everyone goodbye.

Just as he was about to exit the gym, a voice called out to him to stop. But Jeno had already dawdled enough though so he ignored it and ran.

Jaemin blinked after the running boy, stunned by his stamina. After that intense match, he somehow still had the energy to run that fast? 

“Forget it,” one student said, who probably heard him shout, “You’ll never be able to catch up to Lee Jeno.”

Jaemin turned to the student, “Yeah… Looks like it. Would you happen to know where he’s headed though?”

The other just shrugged, “No idea. Jeno always just disappears after classes.”

“Then, would his friends know? It’s kind of important.”

“Friends?” the other student muttered, thinking. Then he shrugged, “I actually don’t know… Jeno hangs out with everyone. But he… doesn’t really hang out with a specific group. Sorry, man. If it’s an emergency, maybe go to the admin?”

The admin? And what would he say? That one of your students was carrying a dangerous cursed object that could kill him? Of course not.

So Jaemin just smiled, “Yeah, I guess I should. Thanks!”

Damn his luck. At this rate, he’ll never be able to return to Busan.

“How was school?”

Jeno grinned, “There was a taekwondo practice match earlier. I helped the team and won all the sets!”

His grandfather, true to his crabby personality, snorted, “Boasting your achievements! I didn’t raise you to be prideful!”

“It’s true, though!” the grandson replied, still grinning, already used to the older man’s personality. He hadn’t really understood his grandfather until the man was admitted to the hospital a few months back. Jeno had always kept his distance, not wanting to get his ire. It was when the doctors told him that his grandfather had had this sickness for a while did he finally try to see behind the mask.

As was their routine, Jeno busied himself with course work as his grandfather watched whatever show was on TV. The silence was comfortable, until his grandfather suddenly said,

“You have a good heart, Jeno. Way better than this old man.”

Jeno looked up from his work, surprised. His grandfather though, wasn’t looking at him, was still looking at the television.

“Don’t grow up bitter and angry like me. Don’t hold onto grudges. Don’t ever immerse yourself in your own misery that you end up pushing away every single person in your life. You’re a lot like your father, Jeno yah. And I’m glad. I’m really, really glad.”

“Gramps, what are you talking about?”

In response, his grandfather turned off the TV and turned sideways facing wall, away from him.

“I’m going to die without anyone beside me—,”

“Gramps—,”

“And I have no one to blame but myself. Don’t end up like me, Jeno yah. Surround yourself with people, with friends and family. I’m grateful that I still have you but I regret letting so many people go. I’m going to die carrying this regret but I’m happy knowing that you won’t.”

Jeno sighed, smiling sadly at his grandfather.

All his life Jeno wished that his grandfather was kinder, that he was someone he could confide in, someone who would listen to his fears and console him. But he continued to be a crabby old man, burdened by life, unable to let go of grudges past, of grievances unresolved. It made the older man closed off, angry, prideful, unable to express what he truly felt, pushing away anyone who tried to come close.

Jeno would have been one of those until he’d caught a glimpse of the man behind the anger, the pride, the mask. But by then it was too late. His grandfather’s time had already reached its limit.

He tried to make up for it. He quit the Taekwondo team so he could leave the school early. He turned down all the invitations to hang out. But even then, his grandfather remained the same.

Until today.

Slowly, the older man faced his grandson and, for the very first time, and the last, he said, “I love you, son. And I’m so, so proud of the young man you’ve become.”

It was nearly midnight when a teary-eyed Jeno went out of the room to inform the nurses of his grandfather’s passing.

Jeno was filling up forms when one of the nurses offered, “You can spend more time with him if you wish. We can fill these in for you if you want, Jeno.”

Jeno smiled at her, thankful, but he declined, “It’s okay. Gramps wouldn’t want me to waste my time mourning over him,” he chuckled, “I’ve honestly lost count how many times he’s scolded me for spending my time with him! So it’s fine. He would be okay with this.”

The nurses smiled, remembering the old man yelling at his grandson to get out, to spend time with his friends instead of spending it with a man whose time had already been cut.

Lee Donghwan was a difficult man. But you only needed to really look, to really listen, to realize that he truly loved his grandson.

Jeno continued filling up the forms until the sound of running echoed in the hallway. Curious, he looked at the direction of the sound and was surprised to see that it was the boy he’d noticed at the gym this afternoon. What was he doing here?

“Visiting hours are over,” one of the nurses reprimanded, “How did you get in?”

But the boy ignored her.

Instead, his entire focus was on Jeno.

Panting heavily, the boy stopped in front of him and demanded, “The cursed object. Give it to me.”

Confused, Jeno frowned, “What? What are you talking about?”

“It was hidden at the lighthouse. It’s a box about a finger’s length. My seonsaengnim and I were assigned to find it and bring it back. Please,” he said, straightforwardly, “Please give it back before it’s too late.”

At the mention of the lighthouse, Jeno remembered the little field trip his sunbaes had invited him to. The lighthouse was a hotbed for supernatural activities, they said. It was there where they found a curious little object hidden in an alcove, almost like an altar, away from sight.

Still not quite sure what was going on, but recognizing the desperate look on the other boy’s face, Jeno pulled out the box from the pocket of his hood.

“Here,” he said, “It’s just the box, though. I was gonna put it back later ‘cause it didn’t seem right to steal it.”

The boy’s expression went from relief to horror, “Where’s the object inside?”

“The one that looks like a sausage? My sunbaes have it. They said they were going to unseal it or something? I don’t know. I’m not really interested in the occult.”

Jeno thought that the boy would leave, but he was again shocked when the boy grabbed his arm and said, “Take me to them!”

“Whoa, wait. Can’t we do this tomorrow? I’m a little busy now.”

“If we wait for tomorrow your sunbaes will be dead. Are you willing to risk it?”

“Hey now,” one of the nurses speak up, “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, young man. Or do you want me to call security?”

But the boy ignored her, his gaze was only on Jeno.

There were a lot of things that couldn’t be explained in this world. Jeno didn’t believe in the occult. But… in the off chance that it was real then—

“Fine. But if this is a prank I’m gonna report you to the police! Noona,” he said, turning to the nurses, “Please watch over gramps for a while. If I don’t return, you know this guy’s face!”

Said guy didn’t even look bothered. He just looked impatient, agitated.

“I’m gonna run real fast. Try to keep up, okay?"

Something was definitely off at the school. Has it always felt so sinister at night?

Turning to the boy beside him, Jeno found the other as tense as a coil ready to spring. He was on his phone, pacing back and forth, muttering angrily. 

Jeno had spent a lot of nights on campus, studying. But tonight was the first time he didn’t want to step foot inside the school. Something really wasn’t right here. Were cursed objects true after all?

Now genuinely worried about his sunbaes, Jeno urged, “Come on, they’re probably in the org room.”

But the boy shook his head, “It’s better if you stay here.”

“What? Do you even know where the org rooms are? Forget it!” Jeno replied, both nervous and annoyed that if his sunbaes were in danger he wouldn’t be able to save them, “I’m coming and that’s final.”

“You don’t understand what’s going on— damn it,” the other stopped, cursing, then he glared at Jeno and said, “There’s no time for this. Don’t blame me if you die! Let’s go.”

As both of them ran inside the building where the org rooms were, that sinister feeling swelled and doubled. Jeno felt his fear rising but ignored it, focused instead on finding his sunbaes, to make sure they were safe. What the hell was going on?

When they were nearing the Otaku Society’s org room, the other boy suddenly stopped and slammed Jeno against the wall.

Jeno would’ve been angry about it, but the huge, disfigured  _ something _ standing where he’d been rendered him speechless. It was a massive amalgamation of eyes, mouth and arms all in one flesh. All of its mouths were moaning, groaning. Its arms were writhing as if in pain. All of its eyes were swiveling wildly. It was hideous, disturbing.

Jeno was frozen in fear.

Then that thing focused all of its eyes towards him and with multiple voices layered on top of each other, it said, _ ‘I’m jealous of your grades, your looks, your talent, your money, your position, your possessions. I want them all. Give them to me. Give it to me. I want it. I want it. I want it.’ _

Jeno knew he had to move. It was reaching for him. He had to move. But he couldn’t. He was frozen. Struck by shock and fear. He would've been a casualty that night had the other boy not grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away, running hard.

“You idiot!!” he yelled, “Do you want to die?! RUN!!”

As Jeno regained his senses he turned back and was surprised to find two huge wolves, one inky black, the other as silver as the moon, fighting with that monster.

“What—,”

“No time! We need to find your sunbaes. Where could they be hiding? Lee Jeno, think!”

“I…” he tried to think but there was just too many places, “I don’t know! This is a school! There are a lot of rooms they could hide in!”

When the other suddenly stopped running again, Jeno flinched and quickly scanned the area for another monster. But there were none.

The boy turned to him, and suddenly said, “My name is Jaemin, by the way. Na Jaemin. Sorry I forgot to introduce myself.”

Jeno blinked. An introduction at this moment? Seriously?

The other boy, Jaemin, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Jeno didn’t know what he was doing but after seeing that monster he’s filled to the brim with questions upon questions that he didn’t know which one to ask first.

Before long Jaemin opened his eyes again, grabbed his arm and began to run resolutely down the hallway.

“The most concentration of negative energy is coming from the end of this hallway. If your sunbaes still have the cursed object with them, then we’ll find them there too.”

Honestly, soooo many questions.

“Are they alive?”

Jaemin bit his lip, hesitated, “I can’t tell. I’m only good at sensing negative energy. Whether they’re alive or not… I can’t tell. But.”

“But?”

“The fact that even you can see that cursed spirit means that whatever that object was is incredibly powerful. It drew in so much negative energy that the things that normal human eyes can’t see have become visible.”

“Are you telling me they can be dead already?” Jeno asked, his voice rising in hysteria, “Are you seriously trying to prepare me to see my sunbaes dead bodies? I just lost my grandfather tonight! And you’re implying that I could lose more people on the same fucking night?!”

“Jeno—,”

“No! Fuck you! If you had just done your job or your mission or, or whatever! If you’d just done it properly maybe this wouldn’t have happened! You were already here this afternoon! You were so fucking close! If you had gotten that thing from my sunbaes instead of running after me then none of this would’ve happened! If you’d just done your job properly then I—!”

No, that was unfair. It wasn’t Jaemin’s fault that he and his sunbaes had trespassed into the lighthouse for the sake of adventure. It wasn’t Jaemin’s fault that they’d stolen an object that had been clearly, purposely hidden. It wasn’t Jaemin’s fault that his sunbaes decided to play around with the unknown.

Perhaps he sensed Jeno’s distress, or perhaps it was apparent in his expression, but instead of defending himself, as he should, the other boy only smiled sadly at him and said, “I’m sorry that I got you involved in this mess. You’re right. I should have done better. But I promise that I’ll do whatever it takes to save them. No one will die tonight if I can help it.”

Jeno was supposed to apologize for taking out his fear and frustration on the other boy, was supposed to apologize for being unfair but… all this time Jaemin had been scowling, had been so gruff and impatient that the small smile and sudden gentleness surprised Jeno.

It was a nice look on the other boy. More natural. More him.

Perhaps the other boy was more affected that what he let Jeno believe. In that case, then he really had been unfair.

“Come on,” Jaemin urged, running again before Jeno could say anything, forcing Jeno to run after him, “I really should make you hide but I have no idea what else is in here. I hate to say this, but it looks like I’m your best bet to get out of this unscathed.”

It was that hint of sarcasm, and that little shit eating grin that made Jeno laugh. Even when he’d basically been so rude to the other, even when Jaemin had no obligation towards him or his sunbaes, he’d only come for that object after all, even then, Jaemin could still find it in himself to be kind.

They were nearing the end of the hallway when a large mass slammed Jaemin against the wall, the impact shattering plaster. It all happened so fast. Jeno couldn’t even react.

As Jaemin slumped bonelessly on the floor, Jeno could only watch as that monster readied for another attack, could only watch as Jaemin shakily picked himself up, with no way to defend himself.

But then two shadows stood in front of the amber haired boy protectively, one attacking the monster as the other helped the fallen boy to his feet, away from the fight.

Upon looking closer, Jeno recognized the two wolves who had saved him from the grotesque amalgamation of flesh a while ago.

As Jaemin limped towards him with the silver wolf by his side supporting him, Jeno jolted into action, apologizing profusely for being useless.

Slinging Jaemin’s other arm around his shoulder, Jeno cursed, “I should’ve fucking listened to you! What was I even thinking?!”

Jaemin chuckled, “I thought it was pretty brave of you actually. Anyone else would’ve cowered from the amount of negative energy here. I’m… really amazed that you’re taking it so well. Your sunbaes must mean a lot to you.”

After walking a distance away so that they couldn’t hear the groaning, moaning, growling of that monster, Jaemin motioned Jeno to stop. Jaemin disentangled his arm from Jeno’s shoulders then he leaned against the wall and sagged against it.

Jeno eyed him worriedly, “Are you sure you should be walking? You should get out of here. Go to a hospital. Get yourself checked out.”

“Me?” Jaemin gestured at himself, “I’m gonna get nasty bruises tomorrow but I’m fine. I… I study for this, you know? I’m currently in my second year, college. Same as you. But whatever that object is… it’s far beyond my abilities. Being slammed against a wall though, now that is pretty much the norm for this kinda work. But it  _ is  _ still being slammed against a wall. My body fucking hurts! But I just need a minute, then I’m good.”

When Jeno was about to contest, the huge silver wolf suddenly moved in front of the other boy and began to insistently nudge Jaemin’s watch.

Jeno was surprised to see Jaemin chuckling fondly.

“I know, I know, thanks for reminding me Azis,” he said, softly, affectionately holding the wolf’s massive head between the palm of his hands, “Thank you for keeping watch over us.”

There was a possibility that his eyes eyes were deceiving him, but Jeno could swear that the wolf was smiling, as if it was happy to receive such praise.

A minute hadn’t even passed before Jaemin pulled himself up, leaned on the wolf for a second, before standing up straight on his own.

As soon as Jaemin could stand, the silver wolf sprang away, and went running back to where they came from.

“Hey, wait! Jaemin—,” cause they were sitting ducks here! Why would Jaemin let the wolf leave them behind?

“It’s fine,” the amber haired boy replied, “I can call Azis back if we’re in danger. That was almost a medium grade cursed spirit back there. Arzu is strong but he’s not strong enough yet to take it down on his own.”

“Should we wait for them to return? The wolves?”

Jaemin shook his head, “That would be ideal, but time is running out. We have to find your sunbaes and reseal that cursed object within 5 minutes.”

Jeno frowned worriedly, “Why? What happens after 5 minutes?”

In response, Jaemin sheepishly grinned, “I can’t sustain Arzu for more than 15 minutes. Any more and I’ll collapse. If by that time we haven’t found your sunbaes and the cursed object hasn’t been sealed then,” he paused, hesitating, “Well, I’ve got more tricks up my sleeve. I won’t give up yet.”

“I’m guessing here, but is this Arzu the black wolf? And what do you mean by ‘sustain’?”

Jaemin shrugged, “I made them. Arzu and Azis. They’re my shikigamis. Are you familiar with that term?”

Was Jeno familiar with that term??

So Jeno snorted, “I’m a member of the Otaku Society.”

“I see,” Jaemin laughed, “Well, then you know that they need power to sustain their forms. I supply that power. Arzu’s specialty is attack. Azis is more of agility, also tracking, sensing. Azis can attack too, of course, and I can cast attack spells, but Arzu’s my power hitter.”

Which means, without the black wolf, they were a little less safe, a little less sure in getting out of this mess unscathed.

Even now Jaemin was limping. What would happen to them without the two wolves?

“So,” Jaemin grinned brightly, like the cold, frowning and rude young man Jeno had initially met had never existed, like they were just going to hang out and not about to die, “Where to, Lee Jeno? What’s down this hallway?”

On this floor, there were only rooms used for the many organizations in the university. His sunbaes could’ve hidden in any one of those, except…

“I’m so stupid!”

After exclaiming that, Jeno sprinted forward towards the only room that was unlocked.

“All the rooms here are lent to the student orgs. Except one. It’s a storage room now but it used to be the Occult Org’s room before. Every room on this floor would be locked except,” he said, stopping in front of a room, “this one.”

The doors on the entire floor had a built-in glass pane. Peering carefully through it, Jeno squinted in the dark, trying to see if sunbaes were there.

They were.

In fact, they were sitting on the floor, talking to each other. It was strange that they were doing that in the dark, but they were fond of the occult so it wasn’t that surprising except, something was off.

After catching his breath from trying to keep up with Jeno’s speed in running, Jaemin peered in as well. Jeno caught the horrified expression on the other’s face before Jaemin yanked the door open and began chanting a spell.

The effect was instantaneous. What was once a quiet and eerie room burst into madness.

Gusts of wind from nowhere pushed them back, a cacophony of voices bore down on them, forcing Jeno to cover his ears from the noise. And the fear. Jeno’s never felt so terrified before.

“Wh-what’s going on?!” he yelled over the noise, “Jaemin!”

“They’ve been possessed,” was Jaemin’s reply, his eyes solely on Jeno’s sunbaes who were now slowly rising to their feet, “I tried to cast an exorcising spell but it didn’t work. It’s stronger than me. Whatever it is. I’m— I’m gonna try and get that sealed object from them. Maybe it’ll leave them alone and go after it.”

As Jeno took a good look at his sunbaes, the terror he felt for himself vanished, replaced with terror for his sunbaes. Their eyes were eerily blank, they wore matching grins on their faces but their smiles were too wide, too long, as if their lips were being stretched far beyond its limits. When they moved it was awkward, stilted, like a newborn trying to walk for the first time. Their arms dangled by their side, constantly twitching like a marionette being controlled by an inexperienced puppeteer. 

But what terrified Jeno most was seeing Jaekwang’s right foot broken, the bones pushing at the skin making it look disfigured and yet, the elder walked as if it didn’t hurt, as if he couldn’t hear the sound of his bones grinding. Eunjung’s was worse. Her entire right arm was twisted backwards, like it had been forcefully rotated it in a full-circle. It hung lower than the other and looked like it was only being held by skin. And yet, clutched on that hand was the object, as if she could use an arm nearly torn from her body like normal.

“Cover me,” Jeno suddenly said, “I’ll get that fucking thing away.”

That was the only warning he gave before he darted forward and grabbed the object from her.

Jeno would’ve been stabbed by her suddenly sharp and elongated nails if it weren’t for Arzu. Azis came as well and faced Jaekwang who had become violent, murderous, had been ready to crush Jeno’s skull between his hands.

Jaemin was running towards him when another monster appeared, throwing Jaemin across the room. Jeno gasped in horror and was about to check up on the other boy, but he stopped, as the monster was now advancing towards him.

All this time he had been protected by Jaemin. He said he wanted to make sure his sunbaes were safe, that he’d save them, and yet, all this time he was the one being saved. Jeno took pride in his strength, his willingness to help, and yet…

Jeno was done running now.

Gritting his teeth, he squared his shoulders and charged forward. Putting in all of his strength, he punched the monster on the head.

But it was useless.

“These things are made of negative energy, of curses,” Jaemin groaned as he painfully picked himself up, “A normal punch won’t do anything. You need a curse to fight a curse.”

“How do I do that?”

“You can’t. You’re either born with it or not. Give that to me and run,” Jaemin said, reaching for the object, “You need to run, Jeno.”

Jeno hated this, hated this with his entire being. How could he leave them to die? He was the one who took that object. He knew it was wrong and yet he still took it. If he hadn’t helped, if he hadn’t been so eager just because he wanted them to  _ need  _ him then none of this would’ve happened. This was his mistake too. To leave them here wasn’t right.

“Jeno?!”

“This… is a cursed object, right? What if I ate this thing?”

“No! Are you crazy? There’s just a one in a million chance you’d survive and even then—,”

One in a million? One chance was enough for Jeno.

So he grinned at Jaemin, tipped his head back and ate it.

Lee Jeno was going to die. And he couldn’t do anything about it.

Fuck those selfless types and their willingness to risk their lives for others!

Jaemin could only watch as Jeno collapsed and writhed in pain on the floor. He wouldn’t dare come near him. What Jeno ingested was a special grade cursed object. Ingesting a cursed object also means allowing whatever that was sealed there to possess your body. And if it was a special grade object, then it could only be a special grade cursed entity.

Jaemin was ranked as a low grade shaman. He can fight one or two low grade cursed entities with no problem, but a special grade? He’d be like an ant facing against a human if he attempted to fight it.

Lee Jeno was going to die.

And he was going to take Jaemin with him.

If only his teacher was a little bit more responsible!! It had been thirty minutes since he’d left a message to Heechul and the man was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps the man really wanted him dead because of the sins of his father. Just like everyone else.

But fuck it if he was going to die like this!

Using every last bit of energy he could, Jaemin kept his shikis’ forms even though they were past his limits. And then he summoned Taka, a shiki with the form of a giant hawk, and ordered him to take Jeno’s sunbaes away.

The wave of dizziness that hit him was expected but he cursed it anyway. He wiped away the blood flowing from his nose in annoyance as he ordered Arzu and Azis to deal with the cursed spirit.

Now, Jeno.

The blonde haired boy was still on the floor, appearing lifeless.

Honestly, death was the best case scenario for the other boy. Because in the one in a million chance he’ll survive he’ll be the host of a cursed spirit who will sow death and destruction to the world. And he’ll be witness to every single atrocity it’d do and be unable to stop it.

As Jaemin drew near, Jeno suddenly sat up straight.

Jaemin was wary, especially when Jeno grinned and said, “I’m ready! Let’s kick some ass!!”

Stunned, Jaemin could only watch as Jeno casually made his way towards Arzu and Azis, then began to join the fight.

His punches hit now. And with his incredible new found strength, the cursed spirit was quickly exorcised and reduced to ashes.

What the fuck was going on?

There was a one in a million chance. But it seems there was a chance that Jaemin hadn’t known existed.

“Are you okay, Jeno?”

Jeno nodded, “Yeah. It was shitty at first cause  _ eeeewww _ , whatever it was did not taste good! But I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Well,” he said, as if what he was about to say wasn’t crazy, “There’s an annoying voice yelling at me in my head but other than that, yup, I’m good!”

Jeno... could control the special grade cursed spirit??

“You look surprised. Wasn’t that supposed to happen?”

“No?!” Jaemin yelled, hysterical, “In the one in a million chance you’d survive you would’ve become a vessel to a cursed spirit! You would’ve been possessed like your sunbaes!”

“Yeah, about that,” Jeno cut in, “Where are they? They’re okay, right?”

“I summoned another shiki to take them to my teacher. They should be fine.”

“That’s great! Why didn’t you do that right away? Would’ve saved us the trouble!”

“Because I can only summon two at a time!” he yelled again, incredulous.

Seriously what was going on?! He was out of depth here. As a student, he shouldn’t even be going on cases alone!

“You summoned three though! You leveled up!”

“Yes, but now I feel like dying,” Jaemin deadpanned, because he really did feel like he was about to collapse. His body felt heavy, and his nose was still bleeding. There were dark spots dotting his vision and he was nauseous, his stomach roiling. The only reason why he was still standing was because he couldn’t figure out what was going on. He was honest to god stunned that he wasn’t dead yet.

Jaemin knew that something was wrong with Lee Jeno the moment he saw him. His grin was just way too bright, too hopeful.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, Lee Jeno.”

A chill suddenly went up his spine.

“I will,” Jeno agreed, but his eyes were wrong, were dead, were malicious, and his entire being was cold and sinister and… this wasn’t Jeno.

Jaemin unconsciously took a step back.

His shikis tried to protect him, but Jeno (not Jeno!) simply waved his hand and they dispersed. He hadn’t even touched them and yet...

“What a boring start to my incarnation,” Jeno who wasn’t Jeno said, “All I have is you. It’d be so boring to just kill you.”

“You’re right. It’d be more fun if we fight instead.”

Kim Heechul had finally arrived.

The sight of his teacher’s figure relieved Jaemin so much that all the stress and tension from his body dissipated. Without the need to protect, to save, to stay alive distracting him though, all the pain he’s been ignoring and the exhaustion from overusing his abilities finally caught up to him. As darkness began to take over, he stumbled forward, clutched his teacher’s sleeves and said, “Please, Heechul- _ ssaem _ . Please save him.”

And then, nothing.

Kim Heechul sighed then summoned a shiki into existence.

“Aega,” he commanded, “Take my precious student to where the other two are. Be careful with him, okay?”

The shiki, a silver-toned lioness, purred in assent. Gently, she picked up the unconscious student and safely deposited him on her back. She sauntered away, slowly, as if time was hers, as if her master wasn’t about to face a potentially life-threatening enemy and might need her.

Well, in all fairness, she didn’t have to worry anyway. Kim Heechul wasn’t the most powerful shaman in this generation for nothing.

As the shiki disappeared from view, Heechul faced the boy turned cursed spirit vessel.

Instead of the sneer from the cursed spirit though, he was met with worried eyes as the boy stared at the direction of his shiki.

“Is he gonna be okay?” he asked, looking genuinely concerned, “He got pretty banged up earlier. He said he felt like he was dying but that was a joke, right?”

Heechul blinked.

Then he laughed and laughed and laughed.

How interesting! A boy, wasn’t even a shaman, didn’t even know that shamans existed until tonight, becoming a true vessel to one of the most powerful cursed spirits in existence?

What a turn of events!

“Jaeminnie? He’ll be fine!” he dismissed, “He’s made of sterner stuff than normal, non-shamans. You, however.”

“...yes?” the boy asked, rightfully wary. 

“You’re going to die.”

Heechul was expecting some sort of protest, any kind of protest, but the kid simply smiled ruefully and said, “Yeah… I thought so too. It’s okay,” he had the gall to add, “I’m prepared.”

Seriously, what was with these kids? They should value their lives more!

Heechul sighed, “I was kidding though.”

The kid brightened up, “Really? Can you… remove whoever it is inside me?”

“I can. But then I’d have to kill you. That’s the only way to remove him.”

“I—,”

“However,” Heechul continued, “If you pass a little test, perhaps we can work something out.”

The boy nodded determinedly, “I’m good at tests.”

Heechul grinned, “Thirty seconds. Switch with him for thirty seconds.”

“That’s it?” the boy shrugged, “Okay.”

He closed his eyes and—

_ 30… _

“What a joke!” the voice that was the boy’s but with an entirely different feeling moaned, “I finally get a working vessel but I’m still trapped after all.”

“You look like it doesn’t matter to you,” Heechul remarked, noting the spirit’s cocky grin, “Think you can turn the situation in your favor?”

_ 27... _

“Who do you think I am?” he asked, feigning offense, “A simple cursed spirit?” Then he grinned maliciously and sent powerful cutting winds into Heechul’s direction.

Although he’d dodged easily, the intensity of the attack surprised Heechul. It tore through the room, destroying everything in its path all the way across the hall and out the building. This cursed spirit truly was dangerous. He was only at one tenth of his power and yet already capable of this much destruction.

Heechul was still stronger though.

_ 19... _

Rolling his eyes at the spirit, a once shaman turned cursed spirit whose name was simply Madougou, the evil one, he sighed, “Tony’s gonna kill me again. All this damage... You really had to show off like that? Everyone already knows you’re a powerful spellcaster.”

“A caster?” Madougou repeated, his brows raised as if in disbelief, “Me?”

_ 10... _

“I am more than that,” he said, “I,” he continued as he gestured grandly at himself “Am a god. You would do well to remember that.”

“A god? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Heechul scoffed, “You may be one of the most powerful cursed spirits, but that’s all you’ll ever be.”

In response, Madougou sneered. As the spirit drew himself up, all the negative energy surrounding the area began to be drawn towards him. Winds howled, the ground shook, the sound of windows breaking echoed around them.

One tenth of his power, and yet... 

What a truly frightening entity.

_ 5... _

“When I was living, no one understood what I was trying to do. I wanted to rid the world of evil. Just like a proper shaman should! So that’s what I did. Is killing the source of evil, bad? Negative energy, the source of cursed spirits, is created by humans. Isn’t it only logical then to kill every single human in existence?”

_ 4... _

The spirit walked menacingly towards him. With each step the floor cracked. With every wave of his hand the winds turned into knives.

_ 3... _

“But the shamans of my time did not understand. Each one of them tried to kill me, but no one could, because none of them believed that I truly am a god. None of them understood what I was capable of. But you will,” he said, looking straight at Heechul, “Because you are seeking that same power, are you not? I can feel traces of it in you”

_ 2... _

Heechul frowned, suddenly wary.

“But I was blessed with it. I was chosen to become god. While you, a mere shaman, will never be able to grasp it no matter how much you learn, no matter how much you struggle.”

_ 1… _

“But I can show it to you,” Madougou offered, “Think of it as god’s mercy.”

His friends would always mention that his special trait of pissing people off would kill him one day.

Honestly, Heechul thought they were right.

However that day, was not today.

_ 0… _

The boy blinked, then smiled, “So? Did I pass the test?”

Heechul laughed, both out of hysterics and genuine amusement, “Yeah. With flying colors, kid. But now, you gotta sleep.”

Swiftly hitting a pressure point, Heechul deftly caught the boy as he fell unconscious.

Scratching his head in annoyance, he sighed.

“Ah, what a royally fucked up night this is.”

When Jeno woke up, he was strapped securely on a chair in a small room filled with paper talismans.

In front of him sat the man who had taken Jaemin, holding something that looked like the object that started all this mess.

He gasped, “Jaemin! Is he okay? And my sunbaes?! And that thing! I thought it couldn’t be removed?”

The man laughed, “Like I said, Jaeminnie’s tough, even though he looks like a twig. Your sunbaes are fine-ish. You can visit them tomorrow. Maybe. And this?” he said, throwing the thing in the air then catching it, “This is part of what you ate last night. Now watch.”

As he said the words, the man muttered, “Ignite,” and the object in his hand went up in flames. Jeno flinched and drew back at the heat that he could feel.

When the flames subsided, the object was completely damage free. There wasn’t even a hint of a burn that he could see.

“This is what you ate, Lee Jeno,” the man began to explain, “A special grade cursed object that no shaman can destroy. But you’ve survived ingesting it. Now that it’s in you, it’s also become a part of you. When you die, the object and spirit sealed within it also dies with you.”

Looking at Jeno straight into his eyes, the man continued, “As a shaman, it is our sacred duty to purify the world of curses. It’s part of our regulations to exorcise cursed spirits from humans but because it’s a special grade cursed spirit, the only way to do that is to kill you. Heck, the higher ups Jaemin and I work for have been in a frenzy since we came back. They all seriously want to execute you! But it’s such a waste, you see,” he said, shaking his head, “You’re the first true vessel we’ve encountered who can control Madougou— that’s the name of the cursed spirit inside you, by the way. Killing you now would be a lost opportunity! So, I made a deal on your behalf.”

Jeno frowned, “A deal.”

“You have two options. First is to die right here, right now. The second, is to die after ingesting all the parts of Madougou. Like this one,” the man said, bringing the object near Jeno’s face.

Recoiling away from it, Jeno exclaimed in disbelief, “So either way, I’m going to die anyway?”

“Madougou is an extremely dangerous cursed spirit,” the man answered, “You’ve only ingested one of ten of his parts, his finger, actually.”

Jeno blanched in disgust upon hearing it. Did he really eat a finger?!

“If we leave you be, there’s a risk of him taking full control of your body. Heck, that’s not even a risk, it’s reality. You’re untrained, you know nothing of this world you’re now a part of. You have no defenses against him. Once he takes full control of your body, it’s not a far possibility that he’ll bring about hell on earth. But,” he said, patting Jeno’s head, “If you become a good boy and learn from us, perhaps you’ll be able to control Madougou until you’ve ingested all of his parts. So that when you die, the world would never have to face Madougou’s evil. So what will it be, Lee Jeno?”

For a while, Jeno could only stare blankly at the other man, too overwhelmed to think.

While he was prepared to die last night to save his sunbaes, dying now for a reason like this was a bit… regretful. There was no meaning to it.

If he was going to die either way, then it should at least be on his own terms, right?

Besides, he hasn’t even fulfilled his grandfather’s last wish yet.

Speaking of his grandfather though…

“Could I take care of something first?”

“Thanks for helping me out,” Jeno said, sitting beside the older man, Heechul, who turned out to be Jaemin’s teacher, “I didn’t realize there was gonna be a lot of paperwork.”

Heechul chuckled, “Seems like all the nurses at the hospital were all willing to help,” he teased, “I only helped set up the funeral hall.”

“It’s too big though,” Jeno remarked, remembering the mostly empty room.

In the end, his grandfather was right. It was regretful to live a life with no one beside you at the end.

The breeze outside the funeral hall was refreshing. Jeno couldn’t help but close his eyes and savor it. If he got a bit teary-eyed for a second, no one would be able to tell.

“So,” Heechul started, “Have you decided yet?”

Jeno nodded, “I’d like to die after living as much as I can. If I help rid the world of evil, then that’s great too. So yeah, I’m choosing the second option.”

Heechul grinned, “Good! My precious student asked me to save you. It’d be a shame if I couldn’t fulfill it.”

Standing up as the older man did, Jeno tightly held on to the container of his grandfather’s ashes.

It was a bit ironic to be so motivated after learning that his life had a deadline. Still, living a long life didn't mean you lived a good life. He'd learned that from his grandfather.

"Hope you're not having a fit up there now that you know the truth, that your grandson is as friendless as you are," he whispered, looking up, "But don't worry, gramps. From now on, I'm gonna surround myself with good people. I'm gonna live a life both of us can be proud of."


End file.
